The Caring or the Rearing or the Breeding or Training of Racehorses- Changes in Working Time Law

If you are you will probably be aware of Aidan O’Brien’s problems
with the WRC (Workplace Relations Commission) and then the Labour Court
concerning breaches of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997.(You
can read about those cases here).

1. An activity in
which the employee is regularly required by the employer to travel distances
of significant length, either from his or her home to the workplace or from
one workplace to another workplace.

2. An activity of a
security or surveillance nature the purpose of which is to protect persons or
property and which requires the continuous presence of the employee at a
particular place or places, and, in particular, the activities of a security
guard, caretaker or security firm.

3. An activity
falling within a sector of the economy or in the public service—

(a) in which it is foreseeable that
the rate at which production or the provision of services, as the case may
be, takes place will vary significantly from time to time,

or

(b) the nature of which is such that
employees are directly involved in ensuring the continuity of production or
the provision of services, as the case may be,

and, in particular,
any of the following activites—

(i) the provision of
services relating to the reception, treatment or care of persons in a
residential institution, hospital or similar establishment,

(ii) the provision
of services at a harbour or airport,

(iii) production in
the press, radio, television, cinematographic, postal or telecommunications
industries,

(iv) the provision
of ambulance, fire and civil protection services,

(v) the production,
transmission or distribution of gas, water or electricity,

(vi) the collection
of household refuse or the operation of an incineration plant,

(vii) any industrial
activity in which work cannot, by reason of considerations of a technical
nature, be interrupted,

(viii) research and
development,

(ix) agriculture,

(x) tourism.

Neither the WRC nor the Labour Court accepted this argument
and O’Brien appealed the case to the Civil Courts.

This problem had arisen as a consequence of the Industrial Relations
(Amendment) act 2015 defining ‘agriculture’ as

‘agriculture’ means—

(a) (i) the production of animals, including the
production of meat and other animal produce intended for human consumption,

(ii) the sorting and packing of meat and other animal
produce, and

(iii) the production, sorting, and packing of crops, including
fruit and vegetables, intended for human or animal consumption,

19th December, 2018 Regulation

These Regulations
clarify that the term “agriculture” in the Schedule to the Organisation of
Working Time (General Exemptions) Regulations 1998 (S.I. No. 21 of 1998),
includes, inter alia, “the caring for or the rearing or the breeding or
training of racehorses” for the purpose of those Regulations.

This means that the exemptions from certain sections of the
Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 now apply to workers who are engaged in
the “the caring for or the rearing or the
breeding or training of racehorses”.